


only collaboration

by storypaint (possibilityleft)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-05
Updated: 2011-11-05
Packaged: 2017-10-25 17:27:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/272888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possibilityleft/pseuds/storypaint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko talks to Toph about his girl troubles.  <em>Toph didn't look up from her feet but interrupted, "If you finish that sentence, I'm going to earthbend you into the pond.  The turtleducks will be sad."</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	only collaboration

"What'd you come to me for?" Toph asked, making a face. She settled down into the grass around the turtleduck pond and began to pick leisurely at her feet. Zuko frowned and didn't bother telling her it was gross. Last time he'd tried, she'd put those feet in his face, and he'd rather have a real conversation than a wrestling match (especially one he wasn't sure he'd win).

"I don't know! You're a girl but also sorta--" He gestured in a slow circle, trying to find the right word.

Toph didn't look up from her feet but interrupted, "If you finish that sentence, I'm going to earthbend you into the pond. The turtleducks will be sad."

Zuko twitched. "Well, I wasn't going to ask Sokka," he said after a long moment.

Toph grinned. "Smarter than I thought," she announced. "Take a seat, Sparky."

She patted the ground beside her and after a moment, Zuko sat down, trying to do so in a dignified manner.

"Just because I'm sixteen now and my chest is doing weird things," she began, and his heart speeded up when he blushed, although she chose to ignore it for the moment, "doesn't mean that I really know a lot about how other girls think. Me and Katara never got along that well, and right now the whole wedding thing is making her more impossible than usual. Suki is still dating Sokka, so that puts her mind in question, and as for your Lady Gloom, I barely know her."

"You've been hanging around ever since I became Firelord, though. With Mai sometimes. I thought you..." He scratched the back of his head. "Bonded or something. I don't know."

"Yeah, we gossiped about cute boys and I let her do my nails," Toph mocked. "She's kinda hard to talk to, which is I assume why you're talking to me instead."

"You certainly don't hold back," Zuko muttered, trying to keep the irritation from his voice. Toph smiled a little and leaned back against a tree, done with grooming for the moment.

"But from what I've seen, okay, you guys suck at talking to each other. You just kinda suck at talking in general, actually," Toph continued. "You put your foot in your mouth without trying, and Mai practically makes a game out of pretending not to care, even when she's angry."

"I asked her why she was mad at me!" Zuko protested. Toph shook her head.

"Go ask her what you _did_ ," she said.

"You give advice like Uncle," Zuko grumbled.

"Nah. Otherwise I would have made up some metaphor about tea, or clouds or something," Toph said. "It's just that we're both very wise, so we sound the same."

She grinned as she got to her feet. Zuko shook his head and followed.

"Time's a-wasting," she said to him in a sing-song tone. "The Fire Nation needs an heir~!"

"Aaargh!" he said eloquently as she laughed and made her way back into the palace. Sometimes he really missed her innocence. Generally when she made awful jokes like that.

She did give good advice, though, so he sighed and went off in the other direction towards Mai's chambers.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the polybending fic meme.


End file.
